2022 brought a new story to the Toy Story universe with Lightyear, an origin story of the man who inspired the toy, Buzz Lightyear. And while for some, news of the new film was exciting in its own right, many were disappointed that Lightyear wouldn't be voiced by Tim Allen.
And finally, for the first time since the movie was announced, Allen has spoken out about it.
Instead, the role was given to Chris Evans. This move ended up being confusing to some — after four Toy Story movies, it's hard to imagine Buzz Lightyear voiced by anyone other than Tim Allen.
In an interview with Extra, Allen says, "The short answer is I’ve stayed out of this ’cause it has nothing to do [with my Buzz Lightyear]." He then goes on to talk about how a movie like this had been in discussion years ago.
He then talks about how the team has changed since they released the previous Toy Story installments: "This is a whole new team that really had nothing to do with the first movies."
"It's Hanks and I," he continued. "There’s really no Toy Story’s Buzz without Woody."
In a sense, Chris Evans is portraying a character that was the basis for Tim Allen's character in those original Toy Story films.
Galyn Susman, the film's producer said, "Tim really is the embodiment of the toy Buzz, and this isn’t the toy world, so it really doesn’t make sense."
As Tim Allen also explained, this isn't necessarily "his" Buzz, and the film represents a somewhat different continuity.
The film has received mixed positive reviews, and has underperformed in theaters over the weeks since its release. It has faced some pretty stiff competition in the box office, including films like Jurassic World Dominion and Top Gun: Maverick.
In March, Pixar employees revealed that they had planned to add a same-sex kiss in the film, but the studio cut it. The scene was later restored in response to Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, a move that has been praised by the LGBT+ community and its allies.
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